The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

The Best Anglers Never Stop Learning

Nymph

Montana Nymph

Insect Species Icon Golden Stonefly, Helgrammite, Salmonfly and 5 others
Difficulty Icon Easy - 3-5 Min
Water Category Icon Coldwater, Warmwater

Tying Video

Become a Member

Sign up for full access to the Learning Center
and all the FlyBrary Content.
Tying Recipe
  • Hook: Straight shank, straight eye, nymph hook
  • Thread: Black Uni 8/0
  • Weight: 0.020 Lead Wire (Lead-Free Wire can also be used)
  • Tail: Black Strung Saddle Hackle
  • Body: Black Fine Chenille
  • Casing: Black Medium Chenille
  • Legs: Black Whiting High and Dry Rooster Cape
  • Thorax: Yellow Fine Chenille

 

No one is really sure exactly what the montana nymph is imitating. Since the pattern doesn’t key in on a specific insect, it’s okay to get creative and experiment with a lot of aspects in this pattern.

  • Tail: Pheasant fibers or peacock herl can make for some excellent options that can bring this fly to life. Really change things up by tying in some squirmy wormy material as a tail to add movement.
  • Body and Casing: Krystal Flash Chenille can be used for those high-water situations where a sparkly fly is really advantageous to attracting fish. Adding a thin-skin shellback to the top of this fly is also a great way to add bugginess.
  • Legs: Whiting Saddle Hackle, or your favorite Whiting hackle, will work wonderfully on this fly- although we don’t recommend using up your nicest dry fly hackle on this nymph.
  • Thorax: Ice Dubbing is an excellent way to achieve that yellow underbody while also adding sparkle to your fly.

The Montana Nymph is a nymph that has a lot of adaptability in its tying variations due to its size. You can get really creative here and use materials in every way you can imagine.

  • Hot Spot: Add a red or pink hot spot (like in the video) to add a bit of extra fishiness.
  • Beadhead: Equipping your hook first with a cone or bead-head is a great way to add some weight to your fly for those high-water conditions.
  • Rubber Legs: Don’t hesitate to add a pair, or a couple pairs, of rubber legs to this pattern. Some hypothesize that the hackle already looks like legs, but you really can’t go wrong adding in more legs with something this buggy.
  • Unweighted: Tying this fly slightly smaller and without lead wire is an effective way to fish the winter months without snagging bottom every cast. Stoneflies are in a lot of watersheds and additionally, this is a big bug providing the illusion of a lot of protein; some fish simply will not pass this fly up, even in the dead of winter.

The Montana Nymph is a good-fishing fly that represents a massive morsel of food to trout. Additionally, this fly has a reputation for catching a lot of warmwater species that include Crappie and Bass. Few people have developed a picture of what this fly actually imitates, but they know that this fly catches fish. The Montana Nymph can be fished year round, in streams or stillwater, for almost any species. This fly can be tied to precise specifications for depth, color and overall presentation appearance for the season that you are fishing.

Know the water you are fishing and tie for your streams. The Montana Nymph is a big, juicy bug that can make or break your day fishing. Naturally in flies this big, you may not need as much weight on your rig as you are used to when fishing other flies. Tying this fly too heavy can lead to frustrating days in low-water conditions, while fishing this fly too light in heavy water can also be frustrating. As a general rule, you should snag the bottom once in 10 or 20 casts. Making sure your Montana Nymph is at the right depth is sure to produce fish for you.

Cranefly

General Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Cranefly
Sizes: #8 - #16

Damselfly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Damselfly
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: Northwest
Damselfly
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: East
Damselfly
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: Southeast
Damselfly
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: Midwest
Damselfly
Sizes: #8 - #14

Dragonfly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest, East, Midwest
Dragonfly
Sizes: #8 - #14
Region: Southeast
Dragonfly
Sizes: #8 - #14

Golden Stonefly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: Northwest
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: East
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16
Region: Midwest
Golden Stonefly
Sizes: #8 - #16

Helgrammite

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: East, Southeast, Midwest
Helgrammite
Sizes: #12 - #14

None

No hatch chart data available for this selection.

Other

No hatch chart data available for this selection.

Salmonfly

Regional Hatch Chart Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Region: West, Northwest
Salmonfly
Sizes: #6 - #14

Become a Member

Sign up for full access to the Learning Center
and all the FlyBrary Content.